OLED Microdisplays: introduction and market status

Article last updated on: Feb 08, 2019

OLED is a next-generation display technology that is replacing LCD displays in several markets, such as small displays for mobile applications, TVs and microdisplays. OLEDs are made from thin films of organic light emitting materials that emit light when electricity is applied. OLEDs have a much simpler structure compared to LCDs and have several advantages over the incumbent technology.

eMagin XGA096 OLED-XL

OLED microdisplays vs LCoS microdisplays

OLED microdisplays provide several advantages over the current technology used to make most microdisplays (LCoS) :

There's no need for an "external" illumination (or backlight)

A larger color gamut

Wide viewing angles

Better contrast

Faster refresh rate

Lower power consumption (this depends on the image shown)

Wide operation temperature range

OLEDs do have some disadvantages, though:

Somewhat lower lifetime and burn-in

Lower brightness (although this is improving to the point where OLED microdisplays are very bright)

Leading OLED Microdisplay makers

There are several OLED microdisplay makers today. The two leading ones seem to be eMagin and Sony. Sony makes several microdisplays for the consumer market - which are mostly adopted as camera EVFs. For example Sony's a7S full-frame mirrorless digital camera uses an XGA OLED EVF.

eMagin's main markets are the defense, industry and medical markets. They are enter the consumer market - aiming to provide better user experience for VR and AR headsets.

Besides eMagin and Sony, there are a several other microdisplays makers - from Europe, China and Korea.

The latest OLED microdisplays news:

OLED microdisplay maker eMagin reported its financial results for Q1 2020. The company's revenues increased 10% from last year to reach $6.7 million, exceeding the company's prior expectations - primarily due to contract R&D from designing a direct patterning display for a Tier-One customer in the consumer space. eMagin also reports a slight increase in military R&D contracts.

eMagin's operating loss in the quarter was $1.3 million. At March 31, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $3.1 million.

There are several companies that develop microLED microdisplays, and these are gearing up to begin mass production of displays soon. It is likely that microdisplays will be the first type of commercial displays enabled by microLED technology.

Kopin Corporation reported its financial results for Q1 2020 - with $7.9 million in revenues (up 42% from Q1 2019) and a 50% decrease in R&D expenses as the company implements its strategic realignment program.

Kopin also announced that during the quarter it received the first commercial order for its OLED backplane wafers. Interestingly Kopin says the order was for wafers and not complete displays. Kopin says that its current internal R&D investments are primarily focused on OLED displays.

Today we published new versions of our market reports - that cover the flexible, VR/AR, microdisplays, automotive, PMOLED and graphene OLED markets. OLED-Info provides comprehensive niche OLED market reports, and our reports cover everything you need to know about the niche market, and can be useful if you want to understand how the OLED industry works and what this technology can provide for your own industry. The reports are now updated to April 2020.

This is a guest post by Sri Peruvemba, Chair of Marketing, Society for Information Display

How will computing change in the coming years? The better question to ask is what won’t change. Thanks to a new platform, microdisplays and computing in general will transform how we communicate, how we live, even the way we express ourselves to each another. Ultimately, laptops, tablets, phones or smartwatches will go the way of the CRT. As will keyboards and mice. They’ll be replaced by innovative new wearables, inconspicuous devices that will interpret eye-blinks, voice commands, and hand gestures. A miniscule camera will follow your fingertips and body movements, allowing you to transpose images and text with ease, not unlike those depicted in Ready Player One.

The basic technology is here—used by Google, Microsoft, Oculus, MagicLeap, and other pioneers. And so is the demand. Refinements that improve performance and drive down costs are needed. But the world’s biggest players are on board. Form will follow function. Economies of scale will nosedive production costs. Within this realm, three display technologies have moved to the forefront. One appears to be slipstreaming those behind it into the 22nd century—microOLEDs.

OLED microdisplay maker eMagin reported its financial results for Q4 2019. Revenues were $7.3 million (up 35% from Q4 2018), and the net loss was $0.2 million (down from $2.4 million in Q4 2018).

The company's booking in Q4 2019 were a record for eMagin, exceeding $15 million. The company received 80 orders and it has started a new consumer-related AR development project for a next-generation display for a Tier-1 customer.

INT Tech's display is a 0.7" 2,300 PPI real RGB side-by-side AMOLED display. INT Tech says that its technology enables larger displays with higher brightness, lower power consumption and a wider color gamut compared to currently available OLED microdisplays which are produced on silicon.

Panasonic developed HDR 4K VR eyeglasses that utilize Kopin's OLED Microdisplays. The microdisplay-based design enabled Panasonic to offer a smaller and lighter solution compared to current VR headsets that use large (usually around 3" per eye) displays.

Panasonic says that the new eyeglasses provide high-quality images without any screen-door effect. Panasonic is not releasing these as a product yet, but the company says that it will continue to further develop the new VR glasses for new applications.

Kopin Corporation announced that the company developed a new double-stack OLED architecture that enables brighter microdisplays with longer lifetime.

Kopin 1" 2k x 2k OLED Lightning microdisplay

Last week Kopin announced a new 1.3" 2560x2560 OLED microdisplay, and the company now reveals that this display uses the new double-stack architecture and achieves brightness of over 1,000 nits. Kopin also says that this display was co-developed with Panasonic and Lakeside Optoelectronic.